ETF 1-Month Performance Leaders & Laggards — October 16, 2026
Query: ETF top gainers and losers in 1 month · data as of 2026-10-16
Rebuilt ETF 1-month screen (as of 2026-10-16) across 865 active ETFs: top 15 gainers (Brazil small caps EWZS, tanker freight BWET, rate hedge PFIX, sugar CANE, EWZ, energy XLE/XOP/PXE, staples XLP, health care XLV) and top 15 losers (bitcoin miners WGMI, neocloud NCLD, Zcash, memory DISK/DRAM, Indonesia EIDO, drones JEDI/DRNZ, crypto proxies STCE/DAPP, rare earths REMX/REXC), each with raw returns, 52W-high and 150D-SMA distances plus refreshed row commentary and a new narrative.
ETF 1-month leaders and laggards as of October 16, 2026, ranked across 865 active US-listed ETFs in coverage. The month belongs to Brazil small caps and country exposure, energy and energy commodities, sugar, and defensive hedges, while the biggest drawdowns cluster in crypto-adjacent plumbing (bitcoin miners, neoclouds, memory/photonics), Indonesia and rare earths.
Top 15 ETF Gainers (1-Month)
| Symbol | Security Name | ETF Type | ETF Theme | 1D Return | 1M Return | 6M Return | Top Holdings | % From 52W High | % Above 150D SMA | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EWZS | iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF | country | Brazil Small Cap | 0.71% | 19.22% | -1.42% | TOTS3.SA, ASAI3.SA, CSMG3.SA, ALOS3.SA, LREN3.SA, MULT3.SA, STNE, GOAU4, ISAE4, SMFT3.SA | -8.25% | 13.83% | Purest levered expression of the Brazilian domestic cycle: small caps are rate-sensitive and the sleeve rides falling local policy rates plus a firm real. Thin liquidity relative to EWZ means flows, not fundamentals, drive daily moves. |
| BWET | Breakwave Tanker Shipping ETF | theme | Tanker Shipping | -0.98% | 14.37% | 511.17% | AGPXX | -11.23% | 174.08% | Tanker freight is a spot-rate trade wrapped in a futures-based structure — the fund holds freight futures, so returns depend on where forward rates settle, not on shipowner equities. Sharply volatile; the 6-month figure reflects a freight spike that has since normalized, and roll costs cut against holders when curves flatten. |
| PFIX | Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF | other | Interest Rate Hedge | -1.64% | 12.28% | 33.72% | SBIL | -12.95% | 18.68% | Convex long-duration rate hedge built on swaptions; it pays when long yields back up. With the 10-year still near 4.6% and sticky core inflation, it is behaving as portfolio insurance rather than a directional bet — a parking spot that bleeds carry until a rate shock arrives. |
| CANE | Teucrium Sugar Fund ETV | commodity | Sugar | -1.20% | 11.19% | 35.83% | FGTXX | -1.20% | 19.22% | Single-commodity futures fund driven by Brazilian/Asian cane supply and ethanol economics; the fund is a pure sugar-price pass-through with roll-yield drag during contango. Weather and export quotas, not equity flows, set the path. |
| EWZ | iShares MSCI Brazil ETF | country | Brazil | 0.60% | 10.84% | 2.60% | VALE3.SA, ITUB4, NU, PETR4, PETR3.SA, BBDC4, B3SA3.SA, WEGE3.SA, AXIA3.SA, BPAC11 | -3.93% | 13.17% | Broad Brazil exposure led by Vale, Petrobras and the banks — a combination of commodity cash flow, a high-carry local currency and cheap valuations. Political fiscal risk and the real are the two variables that flip this from momentum into a trap. |
| IBIT | iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF | theme | Bitcoin | -0.94% | 6.58% | 5.03% | — | -29.30% | 12.66% | Physical bitcoin sits in the gainers even while crypto-adjacent equity funds crater — the spot wrapper is being used as the defensive way to hold the asset, while leveraged miners and neoclouds absorb the downside. Still well below its 52-week high, so this is base-building rather than a breakout. |
| XLE | State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | sector | Energy | 2.52% | 6.46% | 25.66% | XOM, CVX, COP, VLO, MPC, PSX, WMB, SLB, EOG, KMI | 0.00% | 15.61% | Energy is the one large sector with a persistent bid while the broad tape loses liquidity, and XLE is the institutional vehicle for it. Leadership is concentrated in integrateds and pipelines — a cash-return story, not a growth story; elevated RSI means chasing here carries reversion risk. |
| PXE | Invesco Energy Exploration & Production ETF | theme | Energy Exploration & Production | 2.60% | 6.03% | 29.69% | VLO, MPC, PSX, COP, OXY, EOG, FANG, EQT, CVI, PBF | 0.00% | 17.61% | Concentrates on E&P and refiners rather than integrateds, giving higher beta to crude and crack spreads. Refiner weighting makes it sensitive to product margins as much as to the oil price, and it already sits at a fresh 52-week high. |
| BITO | ProShares Bitcoin ETF | commodity | Bitcoin | -1.09% | 6.00% | 3.21% | IQMM | -42.53% | 11.39% | Futures-based bitcoin fund that earns a yield from T-bill collateral; in a market penalizing zero-yield duration, its cash collateral makes it relatively stickier than pure spot wrappers, though futures roll costs erode tracking in backwardation. |
| ILF | iShares Latin America 40 ETF | country | Latin America | 0.78% | 5.92% | 0.50% | NU, ITUB, VALE, GMEXICOB.MX, PBR, GFNORTEO.MX, BAP, FEMSAUBD.MX, BBD | -1.73% | 7.34% | Latin America's mega-cap proxy — Brazil, Mexico and Chile heavy, with banks, Vale and Pemex/Petrobras doing the work. This is the diversified version of the Brazil trade, with more Mexico and Andean exposure smoothing single-country risk. |
| XLP | State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF | sector | Consumer Staples | 1.08% | 5.64% | 7.70% | WMT, COST, PG, KO, PM, TGT, MO, CL, PEP, MDLZ | -2.66% | 5.48% | Staples outperformance fits the market's shift toward dividend-paying cash generators: the cohort is holding its 50-day far better than the average stock. The catch is valuation — WMT, COST and PG are priced for safety, so the fund is late-cycle ballast rather than an upside vehicle. |
| XRT | State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF | theme | Retail | -0.91% | 5.29% | 0.51% | GME, OLLI, VSXY, WRBY, BURL, RVLV, DDS, GAP, M, KSS | -5.77% | 2.57% | Equal-weight retail is a very different animal from the cap-weighted index — heavy meme and small-cap names like GME and KSS drive a large share of the variance. That makes it a consumer-confidence sentiment gauge and one of the highest-dispersion sector bets available. |
| BTAL | AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund | other | Market Neutral | 2.12% | 5.08% | 3.50% | SNDK, MRNA, INTC, MU, NET, FFIV, SMMT, P, DT | -17.65% | 6.14% | Anti-beta construction goes long low-beta and short high-beta stocks, so it actually appreciates during de-risking regimes — exactly the pattern of the last few sessions. Its usefulness fades sharply in a broad risk-on melt-up, and its basket includes short exposure that can squeeze. |
| XLV | State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF | sector | Health Care | -0.27% | 5.08% | 19.74% | LLY, JNJ, ABBV, MRK, UNH, TMO, AMGN, GILD, ABT, PFE | -0.27% | 12.46% | Health care became the market's defensive growth home: earnings are insensitive to the rate backdrop, and the sector carries the best 1-year record among defensives. Drug-pricing policy and biotech funding costs are the recurring swing factors. |
| XOP | State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF | theme | Oil & Gas Exploration & Production | 2.82% | 4.46% | 26.60% | PBF, VLO, DINO, XOM, MPC, PARR, PSX, MUR, CVX, DK | 0.00% | 15.22% | The more volatile E&P vehicle, equal-weighted and skewed toward smaller producers and refiners. It sits at a 52-week high alongside XLE, so the entire energy complex is extended — pullbacks offer the cleaner entry than breakouts. |
Top 15 ETF Losers (1-Month)
| Symbol | Security Name | ETF Type | ETF Theme | 1D Return | 1M Return | 6M Return | Top Holdings | % From 52W High | % Above 150D SMA | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WGMI | CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF | theme | Bitcoin Mining | -9.85% | -32.27% | -36.23% | CIFR, NBIS, CRWV, HUT, KEEL.TO, IREN, HIVE.TO, MARA, RIOT, CLSK | -56.60% | -38.36% | Miners are the levered, financing-dependent layer of the bitcoin complex; when cost of capital rises and the coin itself merely treads water, hash-price economics compress and equity holders absorb the full de-rating. Constituents like CIFR, IREN and CRWV carry substantial debt and capex commitments. |
| NCLD | Roundhill Neocloud ETF | theme | Neocloud | -11.40% | -27.70% | — | NBIS, CRWV, IREN, HUT, FGXXX | -38.70% | — | Neoclouds — CoreWeave, Nebius, IREN — have become a credit story rather than an AI-growth story: the market is repricing whether leveraged GPU borrowers can refinance at current yields. A concentrated basket of five names means single-issuer financing headlines dominate returns. |
| ZCSH | The Zcash ETF Shares | commodity | Zcash | -7.03% | -23.73% | 289.83% | — | -26.55% | 89.15% | Zcash spiked violently earlier in the cycle on privacy-coin narratives and is now unwinding that move. Extraordinary volatility and a highly concentrated holder base make it a momentum artifact, not a core allocation; the drawdown says nothing about other crypto assets. |
| DISK | Tema Memory ETF | theme | Memory | -5.93% | -23.22% | — | SNDK, 285A.T, 000660.KQ, MU, AEHR, 402340.KQ, STX, 005930.KQ, WDC | -42.94% | — | Memory exposure through Korean and Japanese listed names plus SNDK and MU — the theme had been the tightest part of the AI supply chain, and the pullback reflects both memory pricing expectations and the broader repricing of hardware multiples. Foreign listing weights add FX and timezone effects. |
| EIDO | iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF | country | Indonesia | -14.90% | -21.92% | -38.77% | BBCA.JK, BBRI.JK, BMRI.JK, ASII.JK, TLKM.JK, BBNI.JK, BRMS.JK, INDF.JK, BRPT.JK, MDKA.JK | -48.28% | -24.24% | Indonesia suffered a passive-flow shock after index reclassification, compressing the multiple on banks and commodity names regardless of fundamentals. With the rupiah and domestic fiscal credibility in question, this is a macro-flow trade more than a stock-picking vehicle. |
| JEDI | Defiance Drone and Modern Warfare ETF | theme | Drone & Modern Warfare | -4.31% | -21.90% | -30.97% | ONDS, RDW, UMAC, LUNR, ASTS, RCAT, EVTL, RKLB, BKSY, JOBY | -51.82% | -26.83% | Defense-tech and counter-UAS names — ONDS, LUNR, RDW, RCAT — trade on contract headlines and speculative duration. In a market penalizing zero-yield, pre-profit stories, the entire basket de-rates together despite a structurally rising defense budget. |
| STCE | Schwab Crypto Thematic ETF | theme | Cryptocurrency | -6.90% | -21.89% | -23.42% | BTDR, HIVE.TO, CLSK, GLXY, DJT, BMNR, MARA, HUT, COIN, MSTR | -48.89% | -22.09% | Broad crypto equity index where the damage is in the leveraged proxies — MSTR, miners and Bitwise-linked holdings — while spot bitcoin itself held up. That spread is the signature of a beta-for-leverage repricing, not a rejection of the asset. |
| MSOS | AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF | theme | US Cannabis | -5.58% | -21.57% | -2.75% | CURA.TO, TRLV | -41.85% | -14.92% | Cannabis is a federal-rescheduling headline trade; with only two meaningful US-listed exposures left, the fund behaves like an option on legislative progress. Financing costs and thin liquidity amplify moves in both directions. |
| REMX | VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF | theme | Rare Earth Metals | -2.71% | -21.52% | -46.64% | SQM, ALB, MP, PLS.AX, LYC.AX, 600111.SS, 601958.SS, 600549.SS, 7610.TW, ALM | -50.49% | -34.93% | Rare earths had a policy-driven squeeze and is now retracing it; MP Materials and SQM are the swing names, and Chinese listing weights tie the fund to export-control headlines. Elevated 6-month losses signal the supply-chain narrative has cooled after peak pricing. |
| LYTE | Roundhill Photonics & Optics ETF | theme | Photonics & Optics | -4.90% | -21.49% | — | LITE, COHR, CIEN, 300308.SZ, 300502.SZ | -30.50% | — | Optics and photonics suppliers — LITE, COHR, CIEN — are a direct read on AI datacenter interconnect demand, so they sell off alongside the credit stress in their end customers. Capital spending deferrals by hyperscalers hit this sleeve first. |
| SMHC | VanEck China Semiconductor ETF | theme | China Semiconductors | -3.47% | -20.27% | — | 688256.SS, 688041.SS, 002371.SZ, 688008.SS, 688012.SS, 603986.SS, 1347.HK, 002463.SZ, 688072.SS, 002384.SZ | -44.82% | — | China semis by way of Shanghai and Shenzhen STAR-listed names; local content substitution is the long thesis, but export controls and onshore policy liquidity dominate the price. Small asset base means spreads can widen materially. |
| DRAM | Roundhill Memory ETF | theme | Memory | -5.84% | -19.61% | 30.51% | 005930.KQ, 000660.KQ, FGXXX, STX | -42.46% | — | Roundhill's memory vehicle trades the same Samsung/SK Hynix/STX exposure through a different wrapper, and the drawdown is a reminder that popularity of a theme does not create liquidity. Watch for spreads and short-selling pressure in this crowded launch cohort. |
| DRNZ | REX Drone ETF | theme | Drones | -1.46% | -19.50% | -34.78% | AVAV, NXSN.TA, ONDS, UMAC, 278A.T, DRO.AX, RCAT, PLTR, ELS.AX, AVEX | -42.62% | -26.94% | Drone and counter-UAS equities riding defense-tech enthusiasm; AVAV and PLTR provide some ballast while the pure-play names supply the beta. Crowded new-issue ETFs like this de-rate fastest when speculative risk budgets shrink. |
| DAPP | VanEck Digital Transformation ETF | theme | Digital Transformation | -7.32% | -19.40% | -19.61% | COIN, XYZ, BMNR, CRCL, IREN, HUT, MSTR, RIOT, MARA, CLSK | -39.24% | -18.20% | Digital transformation holds exchanges, stablecoin payments and bitcoin treasury companies — the most financing-sensitive corner of fintech. Falling prices for BMNR, CRCL and MSTR reflect liquidity withdrawal from the entire crypto-finance stack. |
| REXC | Sprott Rare Earths Ex-China ETF | theme | Rare Earths | -0.98% | -19.10% | -39.58% | MP, LYC.AX, SRL.AX, USAR, NEO.TO, ILU.AX, CRML, ARU.AX, NB, ALOY | -44.65% | — | Ex-China rare earths is the geopolitical hedge trade: MP, USAR and Lynas substitute for Chinese supply, but the thesis is policy-driven and capital-intensive. Without premium pricing the economics are thin, and the fund has no moving average support to lean on. |
Overview
One-month ETF scorecard
The ETF leaderboard over the past month is a clean read on where cash flow and cheapness were being rewarded. Brazil (EWZ, EWZS) leads on a falling local-rates story and a firm real, with Latin America 40 alongside it. The second cluster is the cash-generative bloc — energy (XLE, XOP, PXE), staples (XLP) and health care (XLV) — plus commodity supply stories in sugar and tanker freight, and a long-duration rate hedge (PFIX) that is acting as insurance rather than a growth bet. Bitcoin spot wrappers (IBIT, BITO) appear as the defensive way to hold the asset.
The laggard list is almost entirely the speculative-duration cohort: bitcoin miners (WGMI), neoclouds (NCLD), crypto equity proxies (STCE, DAPP), memory and optics hardware (DISK, DRAM, LYTE), rare earths (REMX, REXC), drones (JEDI, DRNZ), China semis (SMHC) and Indonesia (EIDO). These are the names whose valuation sits furthest in the future or whose balance sheets lean on cheap credit — exactly what a rising cost of capital penalizes first.
How to use this screen: the gainers side is about cash now — dividends, freight rates, commodity spots — while the losers side is about optionality later. The spread between the two is the market's current discount rate in ETF form. Tread carefully on the extended energy names (several are at fresh 52-week highs); the more interesting watchlist is the zero-yield drawdown cohort, where a stabilization in credit spreads would mark the inflection.
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